Federation bike trail barricaded by concrete company

A territorial dispute in an industrial part of Melbourne's west is believed to have prompted a concrete and quarrying company to fence off part of a major bike trail, forcing cyclists to detour along busy suburban roads.

The Barro Group, a long-standing family business with a string of construction interests across Melbourne and interstate, has erected metal fencing and concrete barricades across the Federation Trail in Hoppers Crossing, where the trail backs onto one of its many properties.

A family has closed off a bike path next to their property in Werribee because they say it is on their land.

VicRoads has put temporary detour signs in place along local roads but could not explain on Thursday why the path had suddenly been blocked off, or state whether the barriers would be removed.

A section of trail running alongside Skeleton Creek, north of Old Geelong Road, is now indefinitely out of bounds to the public.

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Metro north-west region director Patricia Liew apologised for the inconvenience and said VicRoads was trying to find a solution.

"VicRoads has previously held discussions with the landowner regarding partial use of the property to accommodate the Federation Trail and these negotiations are ongoing," Ms Liew said.

"At this stage, no agreement has been made, however VicRoads will continue discussing options with the landowner."

Attempts by Fairfax Media to contact Barro for comment failed. A receptionist at the group's head office said senior staff would be in meetings all day and could not return calls.

Bicycle Network Victoria spokesman Garry Brennan accused the company of being selfish and unreasonable.

"There must be a better way of resolving this dispute than taking the law into your own hands and barricading the trail," Mr Brennan said.

"It's hard to believe that a major Australian company would want to stop people riding bikes and getting healthy because it is in a dispute about a property boundary. Barro should remove the barriers immediately and settle the property matter in an orderly and civil manner."

The Federation Trail is one of the main off-road shared cycling and walking paths in Melbourne's west, running between Werribee South and Brooklyn along the alignment of the historic main outfall sewer for most of its length. Still incomplete, it is planned the trail will eventually extend to Hyde Street beneath the West Gate Bridge, totalling 24 kilometres.

In October, the Napthine government announced construction would start early next year on a $5.3 million bike bridge across the Newport-Albion freight line, which will extend the path to Yarraville.

Built to mark the centenary of Australia's federation, the trail faced opposition from nearby industries from the outset over concerns it would bring cyclists too close to potentially hazardous manufacturing operations.